The Underworld

King of the underworld, god of the dead and riches

Ruler of the underworld and lord of the dead. Despite his fearsome reputation, Hades was not evil — he was stern, just, and rarely left his dark kingdom.

Hades was one of six children of Kronos and Rhea. After the Titanomachy, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots, and Hades received the underworld.

Queen of the underworld, goddess of spring

Daughter of Demeter and queen of the underworld. Her annual return from Hades brings spring; her descent brings winter — the mythological explanation of the seasons.

Persephone was the beloved daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest. She was gathering flowers in a meadow when the earth opened beneath her feet and Hades, lord of the underworld, seized her and carried her below to be his queen.

Three-headed hound guarding the underworld

The three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld, preventing the dead from leaving and the living from entering.

Cerberus was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, two of the most fearsome monsters in Greek mythology. He had three heads (some accounts say fifty or one hundred), a serpent for a tail, and snakes growing from his back.

Ferryman of the dead

Charon was the grim ferryman who carried the souls of the dead across the river Styx into the underworld — but only if they had been properly buried with a coin for his fare.

Charon stood at his ferry on the river Styx, a gaunt, unkempt old man with fiery eyes. He carried the dead across to Hades's realm, but only those who had received proper burial and placed an obol coin under their tongue.

The river of the underworld

The great river that formed the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. Oaths sworn on the Styx were absolutely binding, even for gods.

The River Styx encircled the underworld nine times, forming an impassable barrier between the living and the dead. The ferryman Charon transported the souls of the deceased across its dark waters in exchange for a coin — which is why the Greeks placed an obol in the mouth of the dead.

The deepest pit of the underworld

The deepest abyss beneath the earth, as far below Hades as heaven is above earth. Tartarus was the prison of the Titans and the ultimate place of punishment.

Tartarus was both a primordial deity and a place — the lowest region of the cosmos. It was described as being so deep that an anvil dropped from the surface would fall for nine days before reaching it.

Paradise for the blessed dead

The paradise at the edge of the world where heroes and the virtuous spent eternity in perfect happiness. Also called the Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blessed.

Elysium was the final reward for heroes, the righteous, and those chosen by the gods. Located at the western edge of the world (or, in later versions, within the underworld itself), it was a land of perpetual spring, where gentle breezes blew and the souls of the blessed lived in eternal comfort.

King condemned to roll a boulder forever

The cunning king of Corinth who cheated death twice, only to be condemned to an eternity of futile labor in Tartarus — forever rolling a boulder uphill only to watch it roll back down.

Founder and king of Corinth, Sisyphus was the most cunning mortal who ever lived — a trait his grandson Odysseus inherited through Autolycus. When Zeus abducted Aegina, Sisyphus witnessed it and told her father in exchange for a spring.

King punished with eternal hunger and thirst

A king who offended the gods by serving them his own son as a meal. His punishment in Tartarus — standing in water that recedes when he tries to drink, beneath fruit that pulls away when he reaches for it — gave us the word "tantalize."

A king of Lydia and son of Zeus, Tantalus was privileged enough to dine with the gods on Olympus. He abused this honour threefold: he stole nectar and ambrosia for mortals, revealed the gods' secrets, and — most horrifying — killed his son Pelops and served him to the gods as a feast to test their omniscience.